(Closed) Home Sprinkler System for fire safety

• lifeinlakecounty
• 7 years ago

• Wedding: September 2009

My husband owns a fire sprinkler business!  We live in CA and I believe all new homes are now required to have them.  I don’t know much about them, but if you have any specific questions then I can pass them along to him. 

• floridabride12
• 7 years ago

• Wedding: March 2012

I don’t know much about them, but my mom’s best friend is a fire inspector and she swears by them. We live in an apartment now so we have them, but she made my Fiance promise that when we buy a house he’ll get them installed if they aren’t already. I’ll be checking back on this post to see what @lifeinlakecounty:‘s husband has to say 🙂

• bakerella
• 7 years ago

• Wedding: September 2010

@MsMamaBear: I would look into your local building code and see what the requirements are for a residential sprinkler system. In Ontario, a sprinkler sprays a 15′ radius, so you have to make sure the entire room is covered by those 15′ radii. To install a sprinkler system you’d have to run small water pipes across the ceiling. You CAN attach them to the ceiling and not hide it under drywall, but it isn’t exactly pretty. I would imagine if you’re adding them to an already built home you’d be looking at ripping out a heck of a lot of drywall and creating a big mess, it may be fairly costly to demo that drywall and then patch it all back up again. I think it’s a great idea to have one, I’m just not sure of the cost effectiveness when it’s an existing home vs a new build. I found a government website with some info and links that may help you:

http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/home_fire_prev/sprinklers/

• lifeinlakecounty
• 7 years ago

• Wedding: September 2009

@MsMamaBear: I just emailed your questions to my husband.  He’s asleep right now and I’m afraid I’ll forget to ask when he wakes up!  I will foward his answers along as soon as I have them.

• lifeinlakecounty
• 7 years ago

• Wedding: September 2009

Answers:

They are installed in all rooms except bathrooms under 55 sq feet, closets under 3 feet deep and garages depending on jurisdictions.

Yes, the celing would have to be removed to install on the first level and through the attic on the second level (no carpet would be harmed in the installation). 

It would be about $2.50 per square ft (not including the celing demo) so it would be a costly, and VERY complicated process. 

Though he obviously thinks everyone should have fire sprinklers, he thinks that if you’re not building a new home, then you might want to stick with smoke detectors. 

But let me know if you have any more questions!  He’ll be happy to answer!

• MissGreen
• 7 years ago

• Wedding: June 2009

Check with your state and county codes regarding requirements. I’m in Ohio and we just built last year and they are NOT required. It was quite costly in even a new build and I didn’t think they were worth it.

• FreeRangeMom
• 7 years ago

• Wedding: December 1969

Technically, sprinklers are designed to protect property, not occupants. Smoke detectors are designed to protect occupants. If you are concerned about fire safety, I would focus on having the correct smoke detector type installed. There are two main types and the more common of the two is being phasaed out in many jurisdictions. You can read more about it here: http://consumerist.com/2010/08/fire-chief-most-smoke-alarms-are-useless-endanger-users.html